Vicar Attends the Enthronement of Metropolitan Athenagoras of New Jersey

November 7 — The enthronement of Metropolitan Athenagoras of New Jersey, elected by the Holy Synod on October 1, took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Theologian in Tenafly, New Jersey.

Among the distinguished guests were Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and All Scandinavia, the official representative of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. The ceremony was also attended by a gathering of hierarchs and clergy.

Also present were members of the diplomatic corps, including the Consuls General of Greece and Cyprus, representatives of ecclesiastical and civic organizations, clergy, and numerous faithful.

During the Rite of Enthronement, Archdeacon Dionysios Papiris read the Patriarchal and Synodal Message announcing the election of Metropolitan Athenagoras. Metropolitan Cleopas also addressed the newly enthroned hierarch.

In his address to the new Metropolitan, Archbishop Elpidophoros recalled their longstanding friendship. He emphasized that episcopal ministry calls for love, self-sacrifice, and a willingness to give oneself for the sake of the flock. He encouraged Metropolitan Athenagoras to share his God-given talents and spiritual experience with others in a spirit of love and compassion.

At the invitation of Archbishop Elpidophoros, representatives of the Slavic Orthodox Vicariate of America attended the enthronement: its Vicar, Bishop-elect Alexander of Nicopolis, and Archon Ivan Belya, Director of Public Relations. Also in attendance were Vicariate clergy serving in New Jersey: Igumen Tikhon Gayfudinov and Archpriest Rostislav Zadorozhnyy.

Metropolitan Athenagoras is well acquainted with the life of the Slavic Orthodox Vicariate and its parishes. He has visited on numerous occasions the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Brooklyn, St. Nicholas Church in Red Bank, New Jersey, and the Cathedral of St. Matrona in Miami, the principal church of the Vicariate. In Miami, he has presided over the traditional Blessing of the Ocean Waters on the Feast of Theophany.

Congratulating Metropolitan Athenagoras on his enthronement as Metropolitan of New Jersey, Archimandrite Alexander, on behalf of the clergy and faithful of the Slavic Orthodox Vicariate, warmly wished him abundant divine assistance, spiritual strength, and every blessing in his high and responsible archpastoral ministry, for the good of the Church and the flock entrusted to his care.